Portuguese man o' war
SpeciesJellyfish, Corals and Anemones
A colonial marine hydrozoan that floats at the ocean surface.
2.50Epic
Epic
Portuguese man o' war
- Jellyfish, Corals and Anemones
The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Despite its jellyfish-like appearance, it is a siphonophore: a colonial organism composed of genetically identical zooids with specialized roles including hunting, digestion, and reproduction. A gas-filled pneumatophore keeps it afloat, while tentacles hanging beneath the surface contain venomous cnidocytes used to capture prey.
- Scientific name
- Physalia physalis
- Classification
- Siphonophore
- Tentacle length
- Up to 30 m (100 ft)
Sources and credits
Sources and credits
- Article
- Portuguese man o' war (English Wikipedia)
- Wikidata
- Q202526
- Text
- Card text is adapted from the English Wikipedia article by an automated summary. Wikipedia content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for its contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Article history and contributors
- Illustration
- By Image courtesy of Islands in the Sea 2002, NOAA/OER.. Public domain · File page on Wikimedia CommonsImage courtesy of Islands in the Sea 2002, NOAA/OER., U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationModifications: Resized and converted to WebP
- Popularity
- 2,165 median daily views (Wikimedia Pageviews API (all-access, user agent))
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